Flarts aFlutter
by SlayerBVC
Summary: After a Valentine's Day date with Panini, Chowder ends up falling in love with her. But what does this mean for Ceviche when he finds out?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

*Flashback to Summer*

"Oh my- Chowder, are you sure you want to-"

"Yes, but remember, it's only for one day of your choosing. ONE day. Got it?" Chowder said placing heavy emphasis on the amount of times the Boyfriend pass was good for. Panini nodded back in understanding. "Good."

*End Flashback*

Panini sat on her bed, as she flipped the laminated card through her fingers multiple times. She still hadn't used Chowder's boyfriend pass that he'd given to her back in the summer, mostly because she was waiting for the right time to use it. It was then that she noticed the date on the calendar. "February 12th, wait it's only a few days to Valentine's Day" she knew what day she wanted to use it on now.

She went downstairs and dialed the number to Mung Daal's Catering. The five second wait was like five minutes to her before Mung finally picked up the phone. "Hello Mr. Daal? it's Panini. Is Chowder still awake? Oh he is, could you put him on please, thank you."

"Hey Nini, why are you calling so late *yawn*"

"Do you realize what special day is coming up num nums?"

She just had to ask him that, when everybody in town knew he wasn't the best at remembering holidays. Of course the fact that he was teetering on falling asleep right now didn't help either. "Is it Clown Appreciation Day?"

"No Chowder."

"Hug Gorgonzola Day*?" even he didn't know where that last one came from.

"I don't think that's an actual holiday, and I don't Gorgonzola would want it to be." she said and decided to stop him from going farther than two on his mental list. "Valentine's Day is in almost two days and- Chowder?" she could hear him snoring through the phone and giggled a little to herself. "Wake up num nums!" Panini said somewhat loudly into her end.

"Wh-what? I fell asleep didn't I?"

"Yep."

"Sorry, I'm still listening."

"So Valentine's Day is a few days away and I still have that pass you gave me. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I want you to go on a dinner date with me on Valentine's Day."

Chowder thought it over carefully, he had never been on any kind of date before. But he had helped her get rid of her greatest fear, and played boyfriend for her dad when he came to visit, among other things. 'What the heck, I'll say yes.' "Okay it's a date."

"Thanks Chowder. See you tomorrow."

"Yep, see you. Stay warm." Chowder said noting the strong freezing cold wind that was howling outside that night.

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**A/N**

1.) Hug Gorgonzola Day, our favorite candle holder's least favorite holiday. Teehee.

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For those of you who have read I'm Not Your Girlfriend and are about to say that I've done this before, my response is 'No I have not.'

Chowder was giving Panini a taste of what she did to him in INYG. I'm going to actually make him fall for her in this story.

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Please Review!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Chowder was nervous as he rang the doorbell to Ms. Endive's. He prayed that it wouldn't be Endive who answered the door. He couldn't figure out why he was so anxious, it technically wasn't a 'date' to him. He decided to chalk it up to wanting to get this over with.

He did a quick check of himself as he heard somebody approach the door. Chowder was wearing a white dress shirt and black slacks with his suit, and was also wearing a red bow tie that Mung had insisted on, but Chowder was not too fond of it; likening the somewhat tight squeeze the tie had on his neck to that of a collar.*

Chowder's prayer was answered as his friend got the door, but he was absolutely stunned by Nini's appearance.

She had done something with her ears that had them relaxed and positioned toward the back of her head, instead of staying straight up as usual. She was wearing a beautiful shimmering silver dress that came down to her ankles. And her fur smelled like a delightful combination of slawberries, bluenanas, and grabbles. All of these combined, left the pudgy young chef slack-jawed and speechless.*

Panini couldn't help but giggle when she saw Chowder go wide-eyed, as he poured over every inch of her body. But then again this was the result she had hoped for, and didn't want to stop him from looking at her.

Chowder finally gave himself a slap to the face to snap out of his trance. "You look amazing Nini." he said as honestly as he could. She blushed a little when he complimented her.

"Thank You Chowder, you don't look half bad either." she replied.

"So you ready?" he asked. Panini grabbed her coat off the coat rack and put it on.

"Yep, let's go."

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**A/N**

1.) To me, Chowder's a guy who could pull off the bow tie look quite well. But would hate wearing it because it's too snug.

2.) I think I just pushed Chowder past the 'Girls are Icky' phase with this. It shouldn't be too hard to picture this scene in your head.

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OMG! Chowder was actually checking out Nini! Next up is the dinner and desert.

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Please Review! (I can't read minds, people! I don't care if it's positive or not, let me know what you think.)


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

When they got to the restaurant, there was at least a thirty minute wait despite the fact that Panini had already made the reservations, along with everybody in Marzipan City apparently. But this didn't bother the two, and they made light conversation until they were seated. Both of them ended up ordering the most roast, and for the first time in his life, Chowder was actually full.

But despite that, he still didn't turn down Nini's offer for desert. They poured over their options on the desert menu eventually deciding to split something that had both of their favorite foods. A Flarts and Bluenana Thrice Cream shake. When their shake was brought to their table, both of them could have sworn that they'd seen something like this in a movie before.

They stuck the straws into the desert and started drinking it. Panini didn't take her eyes off of her num nums for that whole time, and Chowder felt like he was trapped by her gaze. But he didn't seem to mind that feeling, he sort of liked it.

When they finished and paid the check, Chowder offered to walk her back to Ms, Endive's. In the time that they came to the restaurant and left, it had started lightly snowing and a thin layer of the fine dust covered the streets of the city.

"Isn't this beautiful num nums." she said staying close to his side.

"Yeah. I guess so." Chowder said in reply. Not minding her current clingyness one bit. He took a quick look at Panini's face again, the falling snow was making her fur sparkle as they walked past the street lamps. She couldn't possibly look any more resplendent. Chowder snapped himself out of his trance again.

'No, it can't be. Am I actually falling in love with her?' he thought to himself, maybe that was why he was so anxious about tonight. He finally got her back home, and just in time too as a strong wind steadily picked up.

"Thank you for doing this Chowder, you have no idea how much this meant to me." Panini said giving him a kiss on the cheek. Luckily his cheeks were already red from trying to keep his face warm, otherwise Nini would have seen that her best friend was in fact blushing like crazy. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Oh uh yeah. See you."

Panini thought nothing of Chowder's behavior that night. It was Valentine's Day after all, and romance was next to unavoidable this day. But her thoughts shifted back to the date. "It was exactly as I imagined it would be." she said to an extremely uncaring Ms. Endive.

"Don't get used to it Panini dear. He's a boy! He'll just mess with your head and then when the wedding day comes he'll-"

"He'll get cold feet, not show up to the wedding, and leave you alone on the altar. I know." she finished for her master, having heard Ms. Endive give her the same tired lecture about boys, for what Panini figured had to have been the fiftieth time, though she had stopped keeping count at fifteen. "Well, I'm going to bed. Good night Ms. Endive."

Before she changed out of her dress Panini took a quick look at herself in the mirror. "I need to remember this look, if he ever asks me on a date." she took off the beautiful dress and hung it back up in her closet, and rinsed out the spray that she used to relax her ears. "*sigh*Like he'd ever ask me out." Panini admitted to herself, knowing Chowder all too well by now. Maybe he wouldn't ask her out now, but if only she knew what was going through her best friend's head at that same moment.

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**A/N**

Surprisingly no major notes.

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Yes I'm slowly having Chowder fall for Nini, but he's in denial about it. However he won't stay that way for long.

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Next Chapter: Marzipan gets six inches of snow, Chowder thinks back on their date, and Ceviche discovers Chowder's new crush and he ain't happy about who it is.

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Please Review


	4. Chapter 4

**Flarts a-Flutter**

**Chapter 4**

Chowder's mind was racing at a mile a minute as he went back through the farmer's market to the catering company.

"I'm not in love with her. I'm not in love with her. I'm not- oh who am I kidding, I'm in love with her." he said to himself, realizing at that same time that he'd been going in circles for the last five minutes. He still couldn't believe it though, he was in love with his best friend. But it explained why he put up with Panini's behavior tonight.

After blindly wandering through the developing blizzard for about ten minutes by sheer luck he ended up at the catering company. He locked the door after hanging his snowflake covered jacket on the coat rack and went upstairs to his bedroom.

Chowder immediately took his bow tie off, glad to be free of the hold it had on his neck. He finally let his bottled up emotions out and was extremely giddy. After taking his shirt off, to his surprise Chowder still smelled Panini's enchanting perfume on it, causing a goofy smile to come across the young chef's face after tossing it aside.

"So this is what love is. It feels *yawn* nice." he said to himself as he fell asleep, appreciating the warmth of his bedsheets.

When he woke up the next morning Chowder looked out his window after waking up and saw the banks of snow piled up along the street. They were just tall enough for one thing, and one thing alone.

"SNOWBALL FIGHT!" Gorgonzola yelled after Panini had nailed him in the back of the head with one. Chowder quickly threw his clothes on and grabbed his scarf, as he darted outside to join in. He joined Panini who was terribly overmatched with only Ceviche, who being a pacifist, refused to fight. Even more-so since his crush had technically started this fight to begin with.

"You just had to throw the snowball didn't you Nini." Chowder said to his friend as they hid behind one of the banks of snow.

"Chowder you would have thrown it at Gorgonzola too and you know it." Panini said in her defense before blindly tossing another snowball that hit the apprentice candle holder right in the face. Leaving a surprised look on Chowder's face.

"Wow um... nice one." he said unsure of how to respond to that impressive throw. But it was what he did next that took Panini by surprise as Chowder kissed her on the cheek.

Ceviche's jaw dropped as the soft-spoken dancer's perfect world revolving around Panini fell apart with that single action by Chowder. At a loss for words, he fainted into the snow.

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**Author Notes**

**-No notes

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Poor Ceviche, he doesn't want to fight back because he's a pacifist, and the one thought that kept his obsession with Panini going is gone too. Don't worry dude, somebody still loves you.

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Sorry that this chapter took so long to put up. As I mentioned in my profile I have been suffering from an epic case of writer's block, and am just now getting past it. Next chapter may round out this story.

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Please Review!


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